CF Toronto Eaton Centre

Project Details

At the time of its completion, the Eaton Centre was one of the largest interventions made in any downtown area. The magnitude of its scale and its impact as a symbol of downtown renewal revolutionized urban shopping centre architecture. For over 40 years, Zeidler has been collaborating with Cadillac Fairview on multiple transformative projects that continue to reflect the Centre’s significance as an integral part of the city.

The Galleria was designed as an internal urban street within the grid pattern of Toronto, knitting it into the overall city fabric without a break thus making the Eaton Centre a continuous part of the whole city and not an isolated entity. Inspired by the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, the Eaton Centre Galleria is a 900 foot long tunnel at 60 feet wide giving the space the feeling of a street yet fully protected from weather. Michael Snow’s Flight Stop hangs from the Galleria visible along the corridor and adds to the visual identity for the mall.

Flanked by two subway stations and major retail tenants, the Eaton Centre continues to be one of the busiest, most profitable malls in North America with over 50 million visitors annually. As we upgrade and transform the Centre, our designs build on these key planning principles of an interconnected public realm and human scaled spaces within the grandness of the development. Our work includes the Centre itself, three commercial office towers, a hotel, the Ted Rogers School of Management mixed-use building in partnership with Ryerson University, the CF Toronto Eaton Centre Bridge, 2 Queen West, and vestibule upgrades.